Steve Wariner has a new CD being released Sept. 10, the first in quite a while for this country music artist who we all remember for his hits like “Two Teardrops,” “Holes in the Floor of Heaven,” “Where Did I Go Wrong,” and “I Should Be With You.” In fact, Steve has 14 number one singles to his credit, and has put out 18 studio albums. And, while this new album might be titled “It Ain’t All Bad,” I didn’t find anything bad about this album at all.

In addition to Steve’s vocal and instrumental talents, he is also a songwriter. Some of the songs he wrote include Keith Urban’s ‘”Where the Blacktop Ends,” Clint Black’s “Nothin’ But the Taillights,” and Garth Brooks’ “Longneck Bottle”. And he continues to use those songwriting skills on this new album, where he wrote or co-wrote every one of the 12 tracks on the CD.

Steve Wariner is the recipient of four Grammy awards, and has had 11 nominations. He won four CMA Awards, one ACM award, 16 BMI awards, 15 BMI Million-Air Awards. His awards include CMA Single of the Year and Song of the Year for “Holes in the Floor of Heaven,” ACM Song of the Year, “Holes in the Floor of Heaven,” and Christian Country Music Association Award for Vocal Collaboration with Anita Cochran for “What If I Said.” His list of honors, awards and accomplishments is endless.

A lot of what you will hear on this album will remind you of the things Steve did back in the 1970s and 1980s. A little of it sounds like more of today’s country. But none of it really sounds like what we are getting out of Top 40 radio stations these days. I love “Arrows at Airplanes”. That one, probably more than any of the others, reminds me of what I’m used to hearing form Steve. He co-wrote this one with Rockie Lynn and Mike Severs, and it pretty talks about a guy spending the day laying on the river bank, ‘shooting arrows at airplanes and throwing pillows at freight trains’. When you couple lyrics like that, with a melody that makes you happy, you have a great song.

“Bluebonnet Memories” sounds like the music from decades ago. It definitely brings back Steve’s traditional country sound, and it is one of my favorite songs on this album. Maybe the program directors at today’s top-40 country stations aren’t going to agree with this, but I don’t think you can go wrong with traditional country music. And, Steve does that as well as anyone.

Steve talks about raising his boys and watching them grow in the song “I Want to be Like You”. This one also sounds like the country music from days gone by. I really like the end of the song. After watching his boys grow, and seeing what they have become, he says, “Now I may never grow up, but if I ever do, when I grow up, I want to be like you. Son, I want to be just like you.”

The songs on the new album are “It Ain’t All Bad,” “Voodoo,” “Arrows at Airplanes,” Don’t Tell Her I’m Not,” “Bluebonnet Memories,” “What More Do You Want?”, “Spokes in a Wheel,” “I Want to Be Like You,” “It’s Called a Brand New Day,” “Whenever I See You,” “48 Ford,” and “A Thousand Winds”. This is an album that I would recommend, and if I were a reviewer who graded albums, I would give this one an A+.

In addition to Steve’s web site, be sure to visit his facebook page. You can also follow him on Twitter @stevewariner.

Steve Wariner has a new CD being released Sept. 10, the first in quite a while for this country music artist who we all remember for his hits like “Two Teardrops,” “Holes in the Floor of Heaven,” “Where Did I Go Wrong,” and “I Should Be With You.” In...